Autumn Quinoa, Pumpkin and Beetroot Salad

This salad is the perfect salad for Autumn,  the colours, the mix of cold and warm ingredients and the goodness! Most importantly, it has lots of stuff in it to help boost the immune system to prepare us against those pesky colds that show their faces at this time of year. There is so much goodness in one bowl of this that I feel instantly better after eating it.  It's also extremely tasty, the mix of the sweet beetroot and pumpkin along with the nutty quinoa and pumpkin seeds is just divine.

 What exactly makes this so full of goodness?
Firstly, Quinoa is a super food. It contains every single amino acid so is super high in protein! Its also a source of carbohydrate, iron and calcium.  It's one of the crops NASA will possibly use for a Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration spaceflights. Luckily it's really tasty too!

The humble pumpkin is considered a 'super food' by some. It contains some of the highest levels of bio-available carotenoids. Carotenoids have been shown to decrease risk of cancer, heart disease, macular degeneration, stroke, have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory qualities and even slow the ageing process!!

Let's not forget beetroot which is high in Iron and Magnesium and has even been said to help boost the mood and fight depression! Rocket and Spinach are also high in Iron, Folic Acid, Vitamins A, B, C and Vitamin K!

This is simple, tasty and packed with nutrients, need I say more?

To make it you will need;

1/2 a Butternut Pumpkin
1 cup of Quinoa
Pickeled Beetroot
Rocket leaves
Baby Spinach leaves
Red Oak Lettuce Leaves

How to make it;

Scoop the seeds out of the pumpkin, pop them into a strainer and rinse them removing any of the stringy bits
Chop the remaining pumpkin up into little cubes, about 1.5cm x 1.5cm.
Put the pumpkin cubes on a baking tray and bake for 15mins at 180 degrees celcius, then add the seeds and cook until they start to pop. Cook the pumpkin cubes until brown and soft.

Meanwhile, boil the quinoa in a saucepan for 5 mins, then strain the water.

Chop up your pickled beetroot, rinse your Lettuce leaves and put them into a salad bowl along with the strained quinoa, pumpkin cubes and seeds. Toss and enjoy in the sunshine!